The Fragile
by Natalie7
Summary: Mulder's fever leads Scully to investigate a force she cannot battle. She becomes the key in the plot against Mulder (and the object of his disillusioned heart....)
1. Ch.1~Porcelain~

~The Fragile~  
  
"She shines in a world full of ugliness. She matters when everything is meaningless. Fragile, she doesn't see her beauty, she tries to get away. Sometimes it's just that nothing seems worth saving, I won't let her slip away." ~Trent Reznor~ 'Fragile'  
  
(OK, I'm a big NIN and X Files freak. While listening to the beautiful lyrics of the brilliant Trent Reznor, an idea for a story was born. I hope you like it!)  
  
TITLE: The Fragile SPOILERS: none RATING: PG DISCLAIMER: I have no rights to the x files (or nine inch nails for that matter) No copyright infringement intended, so please don't sue. ~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~  
  
Chapter 1 ~porcelain~  
  
Like a porcelain doll, with white flawless skin, crystal azure eyes and flushed full lips framed by auburn locks, the fragility is preordained. It takes several blows to chip her, but it all comes crumbling down like the shot-in-the-air bodies falling over the Berlin wall under Khrushchev's ominous hands. My objective to cushion her esthetic glass-like exterior is as great as the tragic hero within on the quest for truth.  
  
While I'm distanced from her by an invisible barrier built out of respect, my toes are always at the edge. I'm there to catch her if she were to ever fall through it; to be her shoulder to cry on. Because the cracks in this porcelain doll are reticent, the break is inevitable. Unlike Humpty Dumpty, this doll can be restored, however, I can only guide her two the pieces, for her pride will be bruised if I hand them to her.  
  
I stand aside watching her blossom to my quest, to share my tragedy, to fly free over barricades and prejudice alike.  
  
"Mulder?" The voice of the doll asks. "Are you ok? You've been staring at the wall for about ten minutes."  
  
"The doll speaks." I smile.  
  
She looks at me afraid yet concerned.  
  
I laugh. "No. I'm fine, would you fly with me over all the land mines set to destroy our path to the truth?"  
  
She sweeps the hair from my forehead; the touch of her cold palm sends a shiver down my spine.  
  
"Mulder, you're burning up! Let me take you to a hospital."  
  
"The fever doesn't lie, it just exaggerates a bit. I meant everything I said." I reassure her.  
  
"What are you talking about? Let's go to a doctor."  
  
"You know, the porcelain doll within, Scully." I remind her.  
  
She looks at me like I'm stupid, what I like to think is a look of 'love'. She grabs both of our coats and holds out her hand. I let her help me stand and my vision goes black with little spots of light in the corners of my eyes that disappear when I try to look at them.  
  
"That is sooooo cool! They disappear." I announce. I feel my knees buckle out from under me and I fall in slow motion to the floor. As I slip into unconsciousness, I hear the doll calling out my name, her cries muffle as dreams settle over my mind.  
  
~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~  
  
Scully sat beside Mulder in a white plastic chair, looking over the tubes running into his nose. His face was adorned with a peaceful smile. Scully felt better seeing him look content, it seem to help her digest the condition he was in. She rested her hand on top of his, as she faintly smiled at the grin upon his face.  
  
"How's he doing?" A panicked Skinner inquired as he burst through the door.  
  
"He's completely non-responsive. They're running a tox-screen right now, they should have the results in a matter of minutes." She answered.  
  
"Do you think he took something?"  
  
"I don't know. His temperature is at 102 and rising, they don't want to administer anything until they know for sure. They weren't able to detect any other symptoms of illness."  
  
***More to come*** Natalie Icesparklesz@hotmail.com 


	2. Ch.2~Let's take a little trip~

Ch.2 ~ Let's take a little trip~  
  
I awake in a field of tulips. I feel like a ray of sunshine has been born in my chest, both my body and spirits are being cleansed by the warm peace as it flows throughout my veins. I think I am dead, so this must be heaven. The fields spread out as far as I can see, with the exception of a distant waterfall. I breathe in deeply, the aroma of bliss tingles my senses. Then it hits me. Where's my doll??? I jump to my feet, the adrenaline of panic shoots throughout my body. My breathing hastens and my eyes tear. I run as fast as I can But I see nothing miles of pastel flowers that blend together in a lake of color in the distance. I collapse to the ground helplessly. I realize I'm in hell.  
  
~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~  
  
Doctor Baldeon entered the room. He was a younger doctor, tall, fit, with dark tired, deep set eyes, slick brown hair and a well defined jaw covered in unshaven stubble.  
  
"Hi, Doctor Baldeon." He smiled as he held out his hand to Scully.  
  
"Dana Scully, I'm Mulder's partner." She shook his hand.  
  
"Well, we found traces of gamma-hydroxybutyrate, better know as GHB and Ketamine. GHB is what is called a 'rave drug' but it has also been used in date rape. There is nothing we can give to your partner that will counteract it. It just has to wear off, which typically takes about 12 hours. Side effects include unconsciousness, drowsiness, seizures and respiratory problems. Death and coma can result, but luckily for your partner there isn't enough in his system to lead to such damage. What concerns me is the Ketamine. Ketamine is a dissociative general anesthetic used by doctors and hospitals. It is similar to PCP and if there is too much in a person's system, which there is in your partner's, will cause hallucinations very similar to those brought on by LSD." The doctor had his eyes locked with Scully sympathetically.  
  
"Is he in pain?" Skinner spoke up.  
  
"No. Quite the contrary. He's probably feeling very good right now." He reassured.  
  
"Now, both GHB and Ketamine are colorless and odorless. They could have been easily slipped into his drink without his knowledge."  
  
A frightening realization fell over Scully as she leaped from her chair and rushed for the door.  
  
"Agent Scully!" Skinner yelled out.  
  
She stopped and turned to him, sheer panic in her face.  
  
"I need you stay here with Mulder!" She responded as she flew through the door.  
  
***More to come*** ~Natalie~ Icesparklesz@hotmail.com 


	3. Ch.3~Pits~

Ch.3 ~Pits~  
  
  
  
*EARLIER THAT WEEK *  
  
Mulder picked up the little plastic green sword from his martini and slid the olive into his mouth and chewed it thoughtfully. His eyes surveyed the small dark bar contingently.  
  
A tall, rough looking man wearing a black raincoat entered the bar, raindrops slid off him onto the muddy, foot print covered floor. He spotted Mulder across the bar sitting by himself. He pulled down the hood from his raincoat, exposing messy, wet, dark hair.  
  
"Agent Mulder?" The man asked incredulously as he sat on the stool next to him.  
  
"That would be me." Mulder responded as he removed the olive pit from his mouth and sipped from his martini.  
  
"I have something for you." The man said quietly as he held out a manila file to Mulder.  
  
Mulder looked at the folder then the man awkwardly. "What's this?"  
  
"It's a case file on a doctor Kurlander."  
  
"And you are..? How do I fit into this?"  
  
The man didn't respond, but looked straight ahead of him in anticipation. Mulder curiously opened the file  
  
"Medical malpractice." Mulder said unsure of what the point of all of this was.  
  
"There's more to it Agent Mulder." The man responded.  
  
"Look, I don't know who you are or how you found me, but I'm not interested- "  
  
"More people will die." The man interrupted.  
  
"So, what.is he still practicing, illegally or something, I don't follow." Mulder stated.  
  
"Look into it, Mulder." The man replied.  
  
"I, uh.." Mulder began in disinterest. His eyes were heavy with tiredness.  
  
The man stood and pulled his hood back over his mussed hair. He put a hand on Mulder's shoulder, then walked to the door of the bar.  
  
Mulder watched him leave and returned his gaze to the file. He rubbed the bridge of his nose between his blood shot eyes. The combination of lack of sleep, alcohol, and the smoky air was beginning to take its toll on him. He blinked several times consistently and let out a pathetic sigh. He flipped through the papers. 


	4. Ch.4~Thursday~

Ch.4 ~Thursday ~  
  
  
  
Thursday morning, FBI headquarters: Office basement.  
  
"You feeling ok?" Scully asked her partner after a couple of minutes of examining his spacey, tired detachment.  
  
Mulder looked up at his partner thoughtfully, his eyes heavy. "Ummm, yeah, just tired." He replied as he removed his elbows from his desk and unfolded his hands that he used to rest his chin upon, and looked around the office.  
  
Scully raised her eyebrows at her partner, wondering of what to make of his sleepy distance. He obviously ignored her prying gaze as he sorted papers on his desk. She sighed and turned to head towards the door.  
  
Mulder stopped his sorting and looked up at his partner. "Really, Scully, I'm fine, just falling a little behind on my sleep."  
  
Scully turned to him and feigned a smile, she knew there was something more to his detachment, Mulder was definitely out of character this morning. "I'm going to go up to the cafeteria and pick up a salad, can I interest you in your usual turkey sandwich?" She offered.  
  
"No, I'll pass, thank you though." He responded and answered the ringing phone.  
  
Scully again allowed a tight, faint smile spread over her lips and folded her arms and walked out of their office.  
  
Mulder waited for her to close the door and whispered anxiously into the phone. "Who is this?" He demanded as his tiredness made a 180 into curious anxiety. He paused as the speaker muffled "Doctor Kurlander is doing work the medical work of Satan, more people will die." And then hung up.  
  
"Hello? Hello??" Mulder raised his voice into the phone. He hung up and moved his mouth from side to side in contemplation. He then picked up the phone and dialed up for a trace.  
  
~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~  
  
Scully returned to their office and balanced her water and salad in one hand with her plastic fork hanging from her mouth as she turned the door handle. "You missed out Mulder, those sandwiches looked---"  
  
Scully sighed when she looked up to find she was alone in the office. She shut the door behind her and placed her lunch down on his desk. She then picked up the phone and dialed up Mulder's cell, as she moved her eyes over to the area where Mulder kept his coat and briefcase, which was barren.  
  
The phone rang several times and she was greeted with his voice mail. She hung up, and moved her eyes over his desk. She picked up the phone again and dialed up for a trace once she remembered the phone had rang when she was leaving for the cafeteria. 


	5. Ch.5~Shop till you drop~

CH.5~Shop till you drop~  
  
  
  
The Phone call had come from a pay phone about 6 miles away from the Falls shopping mall. Scully searched her coat pocket for her car keys and decided she'd go check out the mall. As she went to open the door, Skinner came walking in and eyed her thoughtfully, as she held her keys in her hand, her lunch uneaten behind her on Mulder's desk.  
  
"Where's Mulder?" She asked rhetorically for the Assistant director whose forehead was wrinkled confoundedly, questiongly.  
  
"Better yet, where are you going?" He asked after a couple seconds of examining her flushed face.  
  
"I'm going to go find Mulder." She responded unenthusiastically and brushed Skinner's arm as she pushed by him.  
  
Skinner stood in the doorway and watched Scully disappear around the corner suspiciously. He sighed and his tensed face relaxed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and dragged his thumb and forefinger across his eyelids, simultaneously moving his glasses up and down with each motion of his fingers.  
  
Scully called Mulder's cell phone again as she got into her car and pulled out of the parking garage. Voice mail again. She flipped on the radio and scanned the stations until she came upon a talk show she listened to half- heartedly as her mind swarmed with the possibilities that lay before her. She swallowed hard, trying to ease the nervousness and tension that knotted in her stomach, that jumble of emotions that weighed her body down every time she was in an unpredictable situation. She thought life IS an unpredictable series of situations, but this was just her 'down' time, the quiet before the storm, and she reminisced happy memories to keep her focus away from the always ominous scenarios life presented to her daily.  
  
She pulled into the mall parking lot and searched around for Mulder's car, when she didn't see it as she scanned the lot unthouroghly, she decided to go in search of a payphone. She came upon a phone whose receiver dangled lightly in the breeze, swaying hypnotically to the rhythmic dance of wind.  
  
She tilted her head to the side as she examined the scene before her and hung the phone up. She moved her eyes around the near area, looking for anything.  
  
Something caught her eye. The sun's reflection caught in the object and cried out for Scully's recognition. She curiously bent forward to pick it up... 


End file.
